Reluctant Retiree

When was the last time you were astonished by something you witnessed? Maybe it was a magic trick. Perhaps it was the birth of your child or grandchild. Perhaps it was simply someone doing something that surprised you. Or it could have been some extraordinary act of kindness.

A child can be astonished by the smallest thing. As we get older, we may get more cynical and less attuned to the astonishing happenings around us. To me, that is sad. Life is fuller and more meaningful if we are open to astonishment or the wonders in our lives.

Luke 9:42-43 says, “But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God.” In this story, Jesus heals a boy at the request of his distraught father. Note the reaction of the witnesses of this miracle. They attributed it to the majesty of God. I would suggest that if you and I are not seeing the majesty of God around us, it is because we are not paying attention. God is always performing astonishing works and His majesty is evident in all of them.

Just this morning I saw an amazing sunrise. It seemed so bright that it looked like a forest fire at the horizon. The clouds were beautiful shades of orange and purple. I could have ignored it as an every day event, but I chose to pay attention to the astonishing light show painted by God this morning. This sunrise is a small thing, but how many big things do we miss by not being open to God’s majesty?

When I think of comfort, I think about my recliner. I love to sit back with a book or a game on television. My head is laid back and my feet lifted up. To add to the comfort, most likely I will have my favorite snack and a cold drink.

When God speaks about comfort in the Bible, He is drawing our attention to the comfort that He provides in our afflictions. He is the Father of all mercies, meaning He extends mercy to us in different ways depending upon our need. He has a heart of compassion that feels our hurts and understands our pain. Just a word from Him can soothe our pain, but He gives us so much more. He shows us hope that helps us endure. He reveals faithfulness that strengthens our faith. He demonstrates power that gives us victory.

II Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Instead of worrying and fretting the next time you are hurting, try turning the pain over to the God of all mercies and compassion. The road to recovery and peace will be much satisfying.

Lately I have been in a lot of situations where I sensed that what I have to say is better left unsaid. My wife said something that I understood to be a criticism of me. Immediately I thought of a good comeback, but then realized that she was right, at least partially. My retort would have just escalated the tension and likely lead her to become defensive. In a group discussion, I gave my opinion. Someone else indirectly verbally challenged my view. I could have defended my opinion, but it would have sidetracked the discussion and led to meaningless debate over an inconsequential issue.

Of course, there are times when leaving something unsaid is not the right thing to do. We should always defend the weak and downtrodden amongst us. We should always stand for truth and justice. We must be courageous in defending our faith and morality.

And we should always be full of praise to our God. Psalm 145:2-4 says, “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” We should praise Him for the great things that He does. But we should also praise Him for who He is. After all, He is all powerful, all knowing, full of love, giver of hope, truth, faithful, compassionate, Father of all mercies, and full of grace. He is worthy of our praise.

We spend an inordinate amount of time on how we look. We dress ourselves with the finest clothes we can afford, style our hair with the latest look, whiten and straighten our teeth, cover imperfections, put on gobs of makeup and even adorn ourselves with flashy jewelry. Today, it is also fashionable to decorate our bodies with tattoos and piercings. All this effort is designed to make our bodies appear more beautiful and attractive.

We can make the packaging more attractive, but we are unable to significantly add to the durability of the package. Our bodies are decaying and we suffer in the process. Diseases come and body parts wear out. As we age, we spend a higher and higher percentage of time with physicians.

To those who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, God has promised to give us heavenly bodies when we are resurrected and meet Him in heaven. I Corinthians 15:42-44 says, “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown perishable; what is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” We are not told a lot about what our heavenly bodies will look like, but we are told that these new bodies will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. Our earthly bodies, on the other hand, are perishable, dishonorable, weak and natural.

As an older person, I am really looking forward to my heavenly body replacing my earthly body. To receive a heavenly body, however, God requires that you trust Him while you are in your earthly body. Please don’t wait any longer. Turn from sin and trust Jesus to save you for eternity.

What is your immediate response when someone cuts in front of you on the highway, almost sending you off the road? My immediate thought is to speed up and do the same to them. How about when someone spreads a false rumor about you? What is your response? Again, my first thought is to justify myself and spread a rumor about them. Fortunately, those are just my first thoughts. Nowadays, I don’t follow through on my first thoughts, thank God! I calm down and think it through to come up with a better reaction, something that won’t escalate the tension.

Jesus was severely mistreated. He was beaten for doing good to all and speaking the truth. He was whipped and then nailed to the cross to die. All the while He was merciful to His abusers. We will most likely not face such severe mistreatment, but we are called to follow His example.

Romans 12:18-21 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We are never to avenge evil done to us. We should leave that to God, who is far more capable of exacting justice on our behalf. Instead, we are told to be kind to those who harm us, and in so doing they will be covered in shame.

It is difficult to be kind to those who mistreat us. But God promises great rewards to those who trust Him to bring justice.